{"id":1642,"date":"2021-02-02T00:07:47","date_gmt":"2021-02-02T00:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/?page_id=1642"},"modified":"2021-02-22T18:28:55","modified_gmt":"2021-02-22T18:28:55","slug":"the-poor-playwright","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/2020-winter-showcase-award-winners\/the-poor-playwright\/","title":{"rendered":"The Poor Playwright\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Tim Schwanitz<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

2020 <\/em>Winter Showcase <\/em>Playwriting Award Winner<\/em><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIn truth the fantasy of a good artist or thinker constantly produces the Good, the Mediocre, and the Bad, but it is their very sharp and practiced discernment<\/strong> that throws away, sorts out, ties together.\u201d\u2014Human, All Too Human<\/em> by Friedrich Nietzsche, Book One, Part IV, Section 155.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Two college students sitting across from each other at a small table in a half-crowded caf\u00e9. <\/em>Rhonda fashionably dressed, wearing a purple scarf, and<\/em> reading a popular novel. <\/em>T.W., wearing an ugly yellow sweater,<\/em> sitting and sighing incessantly with a laptop in front of him. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: Looks up from her book<\/em>. I\u2019ll scream if you sigh one more time.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: Looks like he is the one who wants to scream<\/em>. It\u2019s pointless.<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: Then stop.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: Can\u2019t! It\u2019s due tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Rhonda:<\/strong> Then don\u2019t stop.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: You\u2019re not helpful.<\/p>\n

Rhonda:<\/strong> You think sighing is? Just write something.<\/p>\n

TW:<\/strong> Easier said than done. Every time I start, I have to stop because the plot sounds good for<\/p>\n

five lines and falls apart after that.<\/p>\n

Rhonda:<\/strong> Don\u2019t be so dramatic. You\u2019ve written plenty of stories before.<\/p>\n

TW:<\/strong> I have to be dramatic\u2014this is drama! It\u2019s completely different!<\/p>\n

Rhonda:<\/strong> Then write something completely different. Just put words on the page. Anything is<\/p>\n

better than nothing. Come on, it can\u2019t be that bad. What are you working on now?<\/p>\n

TW:<\/strong> The third dead-end in a row. I wanted to make a play on the Faust Legend, but have<\/p>\n

Mephisto be the good guy and Faust an evil salesman.<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: I don\u2019t really recognize the names\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

T.W.<\/strong> sighs again after realizing that he has made a nerdy literature reference. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: \u2026but that sounds like an okay plot. What\u2019s wrong with it?<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: Well, I don\u2019t know what he should sell. At first, I was thinking airplane parts or medical<\/p>\n

equipment. You know, something where people might die if he were to put ethics aside,<\/p>\n

but then I realized I don\u2019t know anything about either of those.<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: Realizes she won\u2019t get the chapter finished today and closes her book<\/em>. So just<\/p>\n

write about what you\u2019re familiar with.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: That\u2019s the problem. All I know is books and bugs, so I was going to make him a librarian,<\/p>\n

but that\u2019s lame\u2014evil librarian. Who is scared of that? Then I was going to have him be involved<\/p>\n

in the insect trade. He was going to be a good guy at first, but then profits were going to lead<\/p>\n

him to buy and sell endangered species. There were going to be cartels and butterfly<\/p>\n

smugglers\u2026<\/p>\n

Rhonda:<\/strong> With a pained grin<\/em>. Yeah.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: Yeah. Exactly. The only villain I can think of runs Big Bug. Who in the hell goes crawling<\/p>\n

to Big Bug? Do you even realize how ridiculous that sounds?<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: To whom the absurdity is abundantly clear<\/em>. Yeah.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Both silently glance around the caf\u00e9. <\/em><\/p>\n

Rhonda:<\/strong> Still staring off into the distance. <\/em>Maybe you could write something about a caf\u00e9. Since<\/p>\n

you\u2019re here.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: And what would be the plot?<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: Suddenly meets his gaze and talks in a mockingly dramatic voice<\/em>. IN A WORLD where<\/p>\n

a student has to hand in the opening to a play\u2026<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: You want me to write about myself?<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: Got a better idea?<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: No.<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: There you go.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: But what\u2019s the plot?<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: Trying to find a plot. Laughs. <\/em><\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: You\u2019re not funny.<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: I\u2019m serious. Mine the miners.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: What?<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: From a story back in high school.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: What does it mean?<\/p>\n

Rhonda:<\/strong> The safest way to get rich in a gold rush is to sell stuff to the miners. Let them take all<\/p>\n

the risks. Mine the miners. Write a story about writing a story.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: Hmm. I don\u2019t have any better ideas, and that\u2019s not half bad\u2026<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: Looks at her book in the hopes that she might find out how the chapter ends today<\/em><\/p>\n

after <\/em>all. <\/em>You\u2019re welcome.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: Yeah, I think that\u2019s what I\u2019ll do. You know, the best poems are about poetry! Why not.<\/p>\n

Rhonda:<\/strong> Tentatively touches her book<\/em>. You can do it.<\/p>\n

TW:<\/strong> Looks like he\u2019s ready to give a long speech with generous gesticulations instead of working <\/em><\/p>\n

on the play<\/em>. Know what, I really, really like your idea. I could delve into all the issues<\/p>\n

surrounding literary composition. I could fill it with references and allusions and puns and give<\/p>\n

it a title that suggests one thing but means another. You know, Nabokov once said that he<\/p>\n

always tries to \u201cput plums\u201d in his stories for close-readers to find. Oh, and that gives me another<\/p>\n

idea! What if I have the author give a speech about how hard it is to put anguish, excitement,<\/p>\n

melancholy, exuberance\u2014all the extreme emotions\u2014into words\u2014how the feeble filaments of<\/p>\n

language are like ductile threads of spider silk seeking for places to catch hold, to paraphrase<\/p>\n

Whitman\u2026<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: Hopes that a platitude will placate him and allow her to reopen her book.<\/em> You\u2019ve got<\/p>\n

this! Just put all that good stuff down before you forget.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: On a roll<\/em>. Oh, no worries! I won\u2019t forget! This is a great idea. I\u2019m finally excited about this<\/p>\n

assignment. You know, there are all kinds of cool theories of intertextuality; Umberto<\/p>\n

Eco mentions a few in his Postscript to the Name of the Rose<\/em> where he says something like \u201call<\/p>\n

books are about books.\u201d So this might turn out half-decent after all; it will be better than<\/p>\n

anything else I would have written. Oooh! And because it\u2019s a pretty open-ended plot, I can add<\/p>\n

in all sorts of disparate quotes and authors who wouldn\u2019t have fit in my original bug-smuggling<\/p>\n

plot. Hell, I can even mention all the cool insects that were going to come up like these amazing<\/p>\n

parasitoid wasps\u2026<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: Losing all hope\u2026and patience<\/em>. That sounds AMAZING\u2026but it doesn\u2019t do any good if<\/p>\n

you don\u2019t type it up.<\/p>\n

TW<\/strong>: Boiling over<\/em>. You\u2019re right. Do you think that the parasitoid wasp would be interesting<\/p>\n

enough? Like, I think they\u2019re so cool and scary because they lay their eggs inside other insects,<\/p>\n

caterpillars for example, and their larvae eat the insect from the inside out (they actually eat<\/p>\n

around the vital organs, so it stays alive as long as possible). You know, the monster from the<\/p>\n

movie Alien<\/em> is based on them. The iconic scene where the alien pops out of a guy\u2014that\u2019s pretty<\/p>\n

much exactly what they do. Then, oh my gosh, there are hyperparasitoids: parasitoids of<\/p>\n

parasitoids. There can even be parasitoids of hyperparasitoids. They\u2019re almost like Matryoshka<\/p>\n

dolls with one parasitoid inside a parasitoid inside another parasitoid inside some other insect\u2026<\/p>\n

Rhonda<\/strong>: All patience lost.<\/em> I think you should write about whatever you think is right.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She picks up her book and opens it<\/em>. T.W. finally gets the hint, stops talking, and starts typing up a play introduction that he hopes his classmates will not find completely boring. <\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Bio:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Timothy W. Schwanitz is an undergraduate senior majoring in English and Entomology with a minor in Plant Science. He grew up in the Pemberton area of the Jersey Pine Barrens, where he developed a love for insects early-on. He hopes to get a PhD studying insect neurobiology. This play was selected for the Winter Creativity Showcase. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Tim Schwanitz   2020 Winter Showcase Playwriting Award Winner   \u201cIn truth the fantasy of a good artist or thinker constantly produces the Good, the Mediocre, and the Bad, … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":442,"featured_media":0,"parent":1613,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1642","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Poor Playwright\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - Writers House Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/writers-house-review\/2020-winter-showcase-award-winners\/the-poor-playwright\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Poor Playwright\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 - 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